Catacomb Kid
by a starr in photo
Summary: Beckett hates cases that involve children, and this one keeps following her home. Warnings: Physical and sexual child abuse, mental illness and other adult themes. Caskett eventually.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first published Castle fic. I've done a lot for a lot of other fandoms, specifically Criminal Minds, which is also on this account. Hope you all enjoy, much more to come.

* * *

"You're not going to like this one," Esposito commented as he dropped the manila file onto Detective Beckett's desk. "Six year old kid found dead in a dumpster over at 53rd and Lex, Lanie and Ryan are over there now, call Castle," it was a suggestion, and Kate knew it. Esposito would never consider ordering her around. It was a death sentence.

"Six?" Kate asked with a frown, flipping the file open, it was just filled with the preliminary findings that the responding officer had emailed to the precinct. "Alright, give me a minute, meet you at the scene." She had no intention of calling Castle, not on this one. With Alexis off to college not even a month ago, the last thing he needed to see was a dead kid. Esposito just nodded, grabbing his coat off the desk chair as he walked away.

She glanced back over the photo in the file, a young boy, from the looks of it. His arms were angled a bit off, clearly broken in at least one place, and Kate could almost pick out the bruising on his neck, which she guessed was cause of death. Of course, she wouldn't know until she got there and Lanie confirmed. Standing up she tossed her coat over her shoulder and made her way down to the car.

The crime scene was no more bustling than usual, Kate noted as she ducked under the yellow tape line. She couldn't help but be the least bit concerned, since the circumstances weren't normal. They rarely dealt with children. She quickly spotted Lanie and walked over, unable to sip her coffee as the body came into view. He was smaller than the picture had indicated, and despite her cold reputation, her heart lurched. Children always hit close to home. "Do we have an ID?" Beckett asked, fighting to keep her voice from wavering as she studied the body, she knelt down next to Lanie.

"Anthony Gould, six years old attends Beaumont Elementary school," Lanie responded, handing over the school ID. "Cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation," she pointed out the ligature marks around the boy's neck, "but there's a history of abuse here, there isn't much unbruised flesh on his torso, its all old bruising and he's severely malnourished. Who ever had custody of this child didn't like him very much," she remarked, an upset edge to her voice.

Kate just nodded. "Do we have any idea who guardian is? Ryan, call the school, Esposito, get a hold of parents if you can." She delegated, wondering just who could be so sick as to harm the child, who didn't look like he could hurt a fly.

"Already on it," Ryan responded, "where's Castle?" he added, raising the cell phone to his ear. "Usually he's the first one here."

"He's sitting this one-" She was interrupted by the writer himself.

"I brought coffee, Beckett." He called, waltzing over to her before his eyes came to rest on the body. "A kid? He can't be more than seven." The cheery tone that had been in his voice had been drained, the plug pulled.

"Yeah," was all Beckett could manage. "Try six."

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Castle couldn't help but murmur, glancing up at the high rise condo complex. Their victim had been malnourished and evidently abused, he had expected something a little... shabbier?

"I'm positive, Social Services sent over the address an hour ago. The school confirmed it," Beckett replied, voice resolute as she waved her badge at the doorman to let them in. It was twelve floors up and even Castle was subdued, only serving to set Kate's nerves on edge. The whole situation, it wasn't right. There was something seriously wrong going on, and a child was in the middle of it. She rapped her knuckles on the door just as it swung open.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A middle aged woman with brilliant blond hair and a dazzling smile stood in the door frame. She seemed the like picturesque, Martha Stewert meets Kate Gosselin wife.

"I'm Detective Beckett, this is my partner Richard Castle, may we come in?" Her standard response. For a mother who had lost a child she seemed rather upbeat, worsening Kate's mood. With a nod from the woman they all stepped inside, and the door swung shut behind them.

"Can I get you anything? Some lemonade and cookies perhaps?" The condo was lavish, bordering on extravagantly decorated and even Castle felt a little awkward as he perched himself on the brown leather sofa.

"No thank you, Mrs...?" Kate paused, questioningly.

"Jessica Anderson," The blond woman reached out her hand with another pearly smile. "My husband Michael is at work right now."

"Are you the guardian of Anthony Maservey?" Beckett asked, shuffling through her file. The nod from Mrs. Anderson urged her on. "I'm sorry to tell you that he was found dead early this morning," Kate glanced up, monitoring a reaction.

"Oh my," Jessica gasped, "how did he die?" There were no tears, no look of disbelief. Kate and Rick were disgusted. "Did- did he suffer?"

"Tony's dead?" a small voice came from the back hallway, and all three heads swiveled around to see a tiny young boy clutching the wall, a look of horror on his face and tears welling in his eyes. Kate's mouth hung open, she hadn't even considered the possibility that the family was fostering more than one child.

"Yes, go back to your room, Keenan," the woman replied dismissively. Beckett's brows furrowed in disdain.

"He was strangled, and there's signs of abuse and malnourishment. Can you please tell me why he wasn't reported missing? My medical examiner says that he's been dead for at least three days. Didn't you notice he was gone?" The malicious tone was barely kept out of her voice.

"You'd have to ask my husband, I just got in from Italy this morning. I've been there the last few weeks," Mrs. Anderson explained nonchalantly.

Kate just nodded, her fists clenched tightly to keep herself from back handing the woman. "That's all we need, I'm sure we'll be in contact at a later date. Thank you for your time," she bit out, standing up and practically dragging Castle, who had been eerily silent the entire time, out the door.

The moment they were clear of Jessica, Kate had her phone at her ear. "What are you doing?" Castle asked, the first words spoken since they had gotten out of the car. Beckett just waved her hand towards him though, trying to get him to shush.

"Yes, Child Services please?" She paused for a moment, "Yes this is Detective Kate Beckett with the NYPD, 12th precinct. I was just at the home of Jessica and Michael Anderson. They're involved in a recent murder of a foster child, one that they were fostering, there's another child living with them. I'd like him removed for at least the duration of the investigation, since my ME has reported malnourishment and physical abuse." Another pause. "What do you mean you have to conduct your own investigation first? I'm the police. That child needs to be moved." She hit the end call button, eyes flashing. "Bull shit," was her only response.

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A/N: Oh right, a warning is probably necessary. This story is going to deal with some very adult themes, child abuse- including sexual abuse, death, sex, and mental disorders. If anything bothers you, I would suggest not reading it. While I don't intend for this story to be explicit, some scenes will become very graphic and I don't want to offend anyone.

On a lighter note, I love reviews! Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: It's not as dark as it's going to get, and there's not much Castle in it. Both are temporary states. These first few chapters are mostly establishing. Castle's internally dealing with some things and his thoughts will come to light with in the next couple of chapters, its just much easier for me to write Beckett. Anyway, hope you all like it, I'd love to see some more reviews, but I appreciate all of the story alerts. And YES, by the way, the mix up with Anthony's last name in the last chapter was intentional, if anybody caught that. Enjoy.

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Frustrated was an understatement, Beckett thought as she threw her phone onto her desk. So was pissed off, and furious and a whole slew of negative adjectives. It had been three days since her Homicide team had received the Anthony Maservey case, and they had gotten no where. The mother had alibied out, apparently fostering two children was hard work, and she had flown off to Italy for a couple weeks break. The father was still their number one suspect, his alibi was shaky if best, but they had nothing to tie him to the victim or the crime scene. Lanie had remarked that it was one of the cleanest crime scenes she had ever scene, and reeked of a professional hit.

Beckett knew she was wrong. Professional hits were never so personal as to strangle the victim with his own hands- albeit gloved hands. It didn't sit well in her stomach, it was a crime of passion and planned all at the same time, and her gut was screaming that if it was the foster father, that he had done it before, most likely to other children.

That, however, was the basis of Beckett's frustration, fury, anger what have you. Child services' investigation had brought up nothing. While the young boy, Keenan clearly had bruising, the investigator Michelle O'Callaghan had explained that the boy played hockey and that padding couldn't protect from bruises. He was underweight and malnourished, but Keenan's doctor confirmed that the boy was a picky eater, and that he had recently recommended a nutritional supplement for the family to feed him.

By the end of the report, Kate had been seething, knuckles white as they curled around the edge of her desk and if looks could kill. Esposito had patted her on the back, and told her that she should be relieved, the boy wasn't being abused. He had never regretted anything more in his life.

"You still think it's the foster father?" Castle asked, handing a coffee to Beckett as she stared at the whiteboard. He could have sworn her eye was twitching, not that he'd ever bring it to her attention of course.

"It has to be, the school said he left at 3:45, it takes him fifteen minutes to walk home, the place where he was found was 10 minutes away from school and time of death is 3:57. That's only two extra minutes. A mugging gone wrong wouldn't have ended in strangling the boy. It had to be somebody he knows, but we've talked to everybody. He was a good kid, everybody said so. There's no motive for anyone else," she explained, her voice more quiet than usual.

"What's the father's motive?" He wasn't disagreeing. It was prod; saying things out loud would help her wrap her brain around her own ideas. Castle used the technique often when writing his books, to help deal with his occasional but persistent writer's block.

"I don't know. He likes to hit little boys? I just," she paused, blood boiling. She had never called maternal instinct before on a case, and she wasn't too thrilled about it. Esposito and Ryan would never stop teasing her if she did. "I just can't help it. I know those boys were being abused. Its maternal instinct," the last bit was mumbled so badly it was hardly audible.

Castle, having never expected to hear the words from Beckett's mouth, just nodded. "Yeah. Father's intuition. I know."

"Get your coat, we're going back to the Anderson's," was Kate's only reply.

* * *

Her knuckles hit the door much harder than they probably should have, but Kate was beyond caring. In truth, she wasn't quite sure why she had decided to drag Castle back to the Anderson's, but she needed to see the boy again. She had to make sure that he wasn't dead too. She had already failed to get him away from Jessica and Michael, she didn't need to fail him again.

The door swung open, and Jessica with her pleasantries was only smiling wider. "Detective, Mr. Castle. A pleasure to see you again. How can I help you?" Behind her, Beckett could see the boy jump off a bar stool and run into the back hallway. "Come in and sit down," she ushered, "my husband is just waking up, so will you excuse me for a moment?" She too, walked down the back hallway.

It was Kate pacing around the room, edging towards the hallway this time, not Castle who had sunk into the leather sofa, his brows furrowed in thought. They both jumped at the same time though, when a thud sounded from the back of the condo, and though Kate was closer, they both ended up at the bedroom door at the same time. She twisted the knob, reveling the boy, lying on the ground and clutching his knee.

Jessica and Michael were not far behind, and she pushed through Castle and Kate, helping the little boy up. "What did I tell you about jumping on your bed?" She scolded lightly, helping him sit down on the bed. Kate and Castle shared a glance. Either it was an act, or Kate had assumed very, very wrong.

"We can," Kate glanced at Castle, "come back later, if you'd like," she offered, unsure of how to move forward.

"If you don't mind..." Jessica smiled apologetically, and Castle placed a hand on Kate's shoulder, a light reminder and a just in case, and he could feel her tense under his hand. She nodded, and they left, watching the boy over her shoulder.

* * *

"Kate, honey," Lanie's voice reverberated through the telephone connection, the hesitance in her voice not lost on the seasoned detective. She was always the bearer of bad news, and sometimes she could hardly stand her job, other than the fact that at least she was helping. But having a child on her table, it was a whole other level of wrong.

"Yeah Lanie, what's up?" Kate asked, and Lanie could just picture the woman's brows knitting together, waiting in barely bottled anticipation, her inner impatient child boiling just under the surface.

"I'd normally call you down here, but you don't need to see it," Lanie offered as a precursory explanation. "I did a bit more thorough inspection. There are signs of sexual abuse on top of physical abuse. There's no way you can explain this with hockey and picky eating, it had to have been on going, from the extent of the damage..." her voice trailed off, a hitch in her throat.

"What?" Kate's eyes widened. "And it was recent? Not scarring?" She asked for clarification.

"No, it had to have occurred while the Andersons were caring for him, not before that," Lanie heard the unspoken question, they had known each other for years, it wasn't a very big leap.

"I need to make another call," was Beckett's only reply, cutting the call off before Lanie could add in another word.

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A/N: Reviews are stellar. Love you all!


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